The Solution
The conceptualization portion of the task was undertaken by the Engineered Profiles design team. This group routinely works with engineering teams from across a wide spectrum of customers to design new, custom profiles that accomplish specific tasks. Since the part in question needed to function with other existing profiles-while still being aesthetically pleasing to customers-a new rapid prototyping process was required. Once the overall concept of the part had been finalized in modeling software, the part was built with a 3D printer to confirm the final design elements performed as expected.
In the past, a project like this would have required Engineered Profiles in to build a tool in order to test an unproven part. This time around, Engineered Profiles was able to create a proof of concept overnight. This concept part was used by the customer to approve initial designs before tool building began. This approval process included checking the form and function of the rapid prototype part in real-world applications.
